


A Souls Monster

by xiphiathepeacefullsword



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Animal Ears, Animal Instincts, Big Sans (Undertale), F/F, F/M, Harems, Legends, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Skeletons, Spirits, Spooky boys, reader isnt having fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:35:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24723907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiphiathepeacefullsword/pseuds/xiphiathepeacefullsword
Summary: You're life is completely normal, except for the giant skeletal ghosts following you around, and all of the trouble they cause you
Relationships: Papyrus/Sans (Undertale), Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	1. perfect friday night

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine not walking home alone

“Hey, yeah i'm gonna need those papers on my desk by the end of the day.” your nose scrunches in confusion as you pass by collin, stopping in your tracks as you turn to face him, the strands of hair framing your face swaying swiftly with the movement of your head.

“Uh, what papers?” you ask, collin only smiling wryly at your question.

“The papers I just had Cameron put on your desk. Don't worry, i know you only have an hour or so before your shift is over, but i'm allowing you to work overtime.” Collins eyes are full of mirth as you fight the distress off of your face, opting to keep your expression as passive as humanly possible.

“Or, you can come in tomorrow first thing in the morning, but we both know you dont wanna have to show up on your off day right?” he chuckles as he walks briskly past you, patting your head in a patronizing manner on his way back to his cozy office. “Thanks!~”

You glare at the back of his head as he saunters off to his room, your jaw clenching as you take a deep breath in, your index finger tapping the foam cup of coffee you held in your hand. You stalk off back to your desk, smiling meekly at the few people still milling around your workplace as the sun finally dipped down behind the towering buildings of ebbot city, the carpet below the windows cast under a beautiful orange light, only for the fluorescent bulbs of your job to kill the sunlight streaming through the windows.

You nearly collapse into your barely functional office chair once you reach your desk, placing your coffee onto your desk just a little too harshly, a bit of the rich brown liquid splashing out of the small whole in the lid. You swipe at the top with your thumb, popping it into your mouth as you flip through the stack of papers compiled on your desk.

Six more. You had only had six more files you needed to finish finalizing before you could ditch this place for the week and fall into a blissful two-day coma. But thanks to dear old collin you had an entire new batch of paperwork you had to get through, and you'll eat a bag of live bees before you come into work on an off day.

(please do not eat live bees, they are dying at an alarming rate-)  
Shut the hell up.

You shake your head lightly, palming at your tired eyes as you begin to drag yourself through the first file on the stack. Your fingers fly over the keyboard of your work computer as you skim over it, inputting the data into the computer quickly, making sure to scan the screen carefully as to be sure you didn't make any mistakes. You're really getting tired of your boss’ shit, always dumping the workload on you or the other poor souls working here whenever he fell slack. So, alot.

If it had not been for the laws of this land, collin would already be dead.  
****************

You trudge back to your apartment, your eyelids drooping as you make your way through the quiet of the city, keeping your gaze down as the occasional nighttime pedestrian passes by, the dim light of the streetlamps elongating their shadows in a way that messes with your exhausted mind.

Your relief is nearly drowned out by your desire to pass out on the spot, only your common sense keeping your legs from giving out and allowing you to take a nap on the cold sidewalk. Your eyes drift up to the night sky, your pupils bobbing between the scarce stars twinkling above you as your mind dawdles, your feet on autopilot as you continue to walk.

It's been a quiet couple of years, you graduated college, started a new job, made some decent friends, y'know normal life stuff, nothing out of the ordinary. Well except for the race of magical beings that had emerged from a whole in a mountain. You didn't really keep up with news, but when a species of giant otherworldly ‘monsters’ appear out of nowhere, claiming to have been trapped underground by some kind of ancient magic barrier, a mute orphan emerging with them to back up their fever dream of a story,

Well it's pretty difficult to miss those kinds of headlines.

It took a little while for the planet to adjust, obviously, but after nearly a year of adapting and getting used to seeing eight foot tall talking goat people walking around the city, (among other, much stranger things.)

(StrAngER thiNGs)  
Shut UP

Most people were pretty accepting, even excited that this group of mythical creatures existed, ebott city becoming the proud harboror of their culture and residence. Not to mention all the gold and gems the monsters own, the city making bank during the currency conversion process, the economy shooting through the roof as waves of people began visiting and moving to ebott to be closer to the hoopla surrounding the addition to the world.

You yourself had seen a few monsters, even befriended a few of the weirdos. Hell you'd met the human ambassador on a couple occasions. Strange kid, they don't talk much, and once you'd asked them if they were a boy or a girl, and all they said was yes. You admired them though. Someone so young but so kind and generous. And once they set their mind on something there's no stopping them.

Your mouth twitches into a small smile at the thought, the child's blank yet reassuring face flashing in your mind.  
Kids really can change the world.

You blink as you lose your train of thought, pursing your lips as you try to dig through the back of your brain and recover your daydreams. Giving up, you huff and continue to drag your feet back to your condo, your mind focusing back on the streets around you. You'd thought about getting a car, you really had, but you didn't live crazy far from your job, and the commute to and from the office was the only form of exercise you ever really got.

But at this specific point in time you wish past you would've just caved and bought a damn car. You'd be in your bed by now, all snuggled up in your warm blankets, slipping into a deep sleep, waking up whenever you wish, digging through your refrigerator and eating whatever the hell you want for breakfast. Or lunch, depending on when you wake up. Have yourself a few phat bowls of cereal-

You flinch at the sound of an ally ahead of you, the sudden ruckus followed by a chorus of rusling plastic and broken glass hitting the pavement. You stop in your tracks, staring in the direction the noise came from, your fingers twitching anxiously as you breathe in deeply, calming your accelerating heart rate. It's probably just a cat, or a racoon looking for something to eat.

Or you would've thought as much, if not for the torn garbage bags rocketing out of the alley to the otherside of the road.

Well you can't just stand here forever, you either have to run past or sneak past, either way you have the chance of getting snatched up by god knows what and dragged into a dark alley by your hair.

Great! Just how you wanted to spend your Friday night.

And then you hear something in the back of your head. The smallest, most convincing, most deceiving little voice in the very bottom of your mind.

‘Investigate.’  
‘See what it is.’

Your eyebrows furrow and you shake your head violently, trying your very best to rid your brain of that absurd idea, this isn't some horror movie where the stupid lead role goes strolling into the clutches of some awaiting evil. Not getting possesed today, no thank you, end of discussion.

‘Cmon.’  
‘It couldn't hurt.’  
‘That much.’

“Hell no. you wanna see what it is, you throw yourself into impending death.”

‘Well I'd love to, but I'm only a disembodied voice. Besides, you have to go this way to get home right? Unless you wanna turn back and sleep in your office chair.’

"Fuck you"

‘No thank you.’

You tap your foot angrily as you curse at the voice in your head, your head swiveling behind you as you attempt to calculate a new route home. Stars, you're too tired for this shit. You huff indecisively as you begin to creep slowly towards the alleyway, keeping your legs ready to bolt if need be.

‘Wait nah what the hell are you doing?’

“I'm sneaking up to my inevitable death.”

‘Have you lost your mind? Who the fuck told you to do that?’

‘I did.’

‘Dammit i told you to stay away from this fic’

‘And I don't take orders from you so.’

“Would yall shut the fuck up!”

You really need to go to sleep, you swore these voices were not in your head before today. You place your toe up against the brick wall of the first building sandwiching the alleyway, psyching yourself up as the knot in your gut grows. You can do this, just peak around the corner, and run, that's it. You slowly but surely peak around the corner, your eyes taking a second to adjust to the darkened alley.

Your stomach drops to your feet as your brain tries to decipher what your eyes are feeding you, rummaging through a dumpster, crouched on one of the double lids is a massive hulking-

What the fuck is that?

You step further out into the opening of the alleyway unconsciously, scanning the scene before you. Garbage of all sorts thrown in every direction, shredded plastic and shattered glass littering the ground as something growls in frustration, tossing another clump of garbage in your direction. You flinch and back up on instinct, incidentally drawing the creatures attention to your bewildered expression. its glowing eyes lock onto yours instantly, its expression shifting from angry to confused. Its teeth are sharp, impossibly so, and its mouth is pulled back into a snarl. Its head is pale, and rounded, two black ears jutting out of the top of its head. Its body looks like its been skinned alive, bare bones making up its limbs, and an empty ribcage where a chest should be. Red pinpricks of light float in the empty place where its eyes would be, boring into your very soul.

Its claws scrape against the metal of the dumpster as it rotates its head in confusion, its mouth thinning as metaphorical gears turn in its head.

[“Oh fuck this.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fview%2Fvery-scary-movie2-priest-walk-out-leave-gif-17562524&psig=AOvVaw2q3PcpEZ-tVhtgjHQ0iiZC&ust=1598010839230000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCJDPyrncqesCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI)” you mutter, stumbling over yourself as you make a run for it, hauling ass in the direction of your home as the sound of a dumpster toppling over echos through the silent streets, a rythmic clacking reverberating from behind you as you scurry away from the fast approaching footsteps, skidding to a stop as the creature leaps over you only to land directly in front of you, crouching lowly before standing to its full height and staring down at your trembling form.

Its e̶y̶e̶s̶ f̶a̶c̶e̶h̶o̶l̶e̶s̶ eye sockets squint down at you, the lights in them flickering between your panicked eyes.

“...can you see me?” is all it sais, it's deep, booming voice reverberating through your brain, sending shivers down your spine as it tilts its h̶e̶a̶d̶ skull again.

“H-huh?” you stutter out, turning your head back and forth in search of an escape route, the thing crouching down to eyelevel to look you in the face.

“You can see me can't you?” it waves its clawed, bony hand in front of your face, eyeing you as you ignore it in favour of trying to walk around the stranger. It follows your movements, the glare on its face contradicting the desperation in its voice. “Dont fukin ignore me now!”

You sigh in frustration and cross your arms, trying to make yourself look less afraid than you actually were.

“Well you're asking a stupid question. Of course I can see you just chased me down the street.” ‘down the street’ is the wrong phrase. You barely made it ten feet before it caught up to you.

Its eyes widen for a moment, his glower turning into a bright smile as his eyelights expand with excitement, the ears on his head reaching their peak as he gasps.

“HOLY SHIT YOU CAN SEE ME!” without warning, you're grabbed by your sides and lifted easily into the air, the stranger spinning around in joyful circles as you frantically reevaluate your life choices.

“Ayeayeayaye- hold up a second- put me doWN!” he only comes to a complete stop, suspending you in the air as you try and get the sky to stop spinning.

"Y'know how fukin long it's been since I've talked ta someone besides that dumb cat? Too long ta count! Didn't think anyone would eva see me!" He flips you around like a doll, inspecting you curiously as your anxiety only grows. "And a human no less! Whoda thought?"

"OI!" You manage to gasp out, kicking your legs weakly as the stranger presses his nose to the top of your head, smelling you before bringing you up to look him in the eyes. "I would very much appreciate it if you put me down! I don't know where you learned this kind of shit was okay but it is nOt."

"Oh, yeah sure!" He plops you down on your feet, a giddy smile plastered on his face as you straighten out your coat, your hair sticking out all over the place as you look up at him.

Two options.

Indulge whatever nonsense he's talking about, or just walk away and pretend this bullshit never happened. Your eyebrows furrow, and you stick your hands in your pockets, walking around the massive-

Person. Let's go with person.

You walk around the massive person, opting to put this all behind you and get home as fast as you can.

"I'm goin home. Imma pretend this didn't happen and not call the police, Kay? Kay.

The person simply turns to follow you, the sidewalk emitting a clacking sound as his feet hit the pavement. You stop and turn to face him, the smile ever present on his face as he looks down at you.

"....can I help you."

"Nah I'm good." His eyes crease as he smiles. "Thanks tho."

You stare at him a few more seconds before continuing on, your hand coming to claw at your hair as you hear the sound of his bones clicking again. You spin on your heel, looking up at him with angry, tired eyes.

"What the hell are you doing!" The stranger barely flinches as you shout, simply tilting his head at your tiny form

"M followin you. Duh?" He utters as if it's a completely logical explanation.

"....well could you not follow me?" You prompt, earning an amused chuckle from the towering creature as a set of pedestrians past you, eyeing you in a questioning matter. You wave your arms in the direction of the beast, your eyes pleading as they quicken their pace, leaving you alone with the stranger once again.

He starts laughing again, clutching his nonexistent stomach as you watch the two speed off, looking back at you and whispering to one another.

"Y-you, you do realize they cant see me right?" He giggles, looking down at your irritated expression.

"What the hell do you mean they can't see you?" His smile falters a moment before widening, his expression filled with myrth as he looks down his nose at you.

"You really dont know whats goin on here huh?" He breathes out, the tone of his voice sending a wave of uncertainty over your form. He advances on you further, his nasal bone scraping against your nose as he stares unwaveringly into your eyes, the intensity of the orbs in his skull making you feel as if he's staring into the depths of your soul.

You stand your ground, holding your breath as your eyes flicker between the glowing orbs in front of you.

"You poor humans." He whispers out, "you've been outside of touch with your Souls for so long now. I bet they don't even teach kids about their soul monsters any more." You blink as he huffs, his breath wafting in your face as he rants, his eyes drifting to the side.

"They erased all traces of magic once they trapped the corporeals under the mountain. Once people forgot about them we stood no chance of being remembered."

His eyes snap back to yours suddenly, the lights wavering between yours as if searching for something.

"Hey, how about instead o' standin in the middle of the road you take me home!"

You exhale slightly, sputtering at his demand.

"Fffuck no!"

"Aww c'mon! I'll explain on the way! Promise" he clasps his hands together, the lights in his sockets widening to a worrying size as he pleads with you. You don't waver, crossing your arms and looking up at him with aggravation written on your face.

"You chase me down in the middle of the night and expect me to invite you to sleep over? Yeah, no."

"Plleeeeaaasse! It'll all make sense if ya jus lemme explain!"

You look into the most ridiculous puppy dog face you've ever seen, tapping your fingers on your arm as your jaw clenches in thought.

You do realize he's gonna follow you home anyway right.

Well that's not a comforting thought. You seethe as you stare at the skeleton, gis eyes widening by the second. You open your mouth to deny him again, your mouth shifting decisively as you prepare to end this uncomfortable encounter.

"Fine." You huff, turning on your heel in the direction of your apartment. You curse yourself silently as the skeleton's expression lights up, his feet clicking as he catches up to you, strolling by your side as he begins to ramble.

"Well ya see, a long time ago, certain humans an' certain corporeals were assigned sort of, what would you call it, a soul keeper of sorts. Meant to keep the souls from growing too lonely an', falling down."

"Falling down?" You glance over at him, his expression saddening slightly at your question.

"When a person gives up hope, and loses the will to keep living. They just kind of fall asleep one day and…."

His eyes drift across the sidewalk sadly, his smile saddening before he shakes his head, looking back over to you, his expression feigning ok-ness as he continues.

"Anyway, back then, everyone knew about us, not everyone could see us but, we were parts of families an'….yknow we were appreciated. That was before the humans turned on the corporeals and decided ta trap them all underground. Leaving the keepers scattered above ground ta slowly die as tha magic on the surface dwindled to nearly nothin over time."

"Hold on, back up, you keep saying corpreals, i need context."

"Im gettin there im gettin there." He chuckles as you two turn into your neighborhood.

"A corporeal, what you humans call 'monsters', are sort of like, a template for us keepers. When a keeper soul finds a monster they like they'll build themselves ta act like em or look like em."

"Who'd you build yourself after?" You ask him, genuine curiosity lacing your tone.

He looks over at you and blinks, opening and closing his mouth as he searches for an answer.

"...i don't remember. The lack o' magic all these years fucked around with my memories."

"Oh. Well, why is it i haven't ever seen a 'keeper' until now. You said you guys we're still on the surface right? How come ive never met one."

"Ah im glad ya asked. Once the corporeals were freed from their prison, the magic that had been stirring under the mountain was released. Some of the more special humans were rightfully gifted with their magic, they were 'sposed ta get it at birth, theres a whole ceremony that used ta happen when a child is gifted with magic. It used to be such a great honor."

He continues to ramble nostalgically, further explaining souls and keepers and their connections to corporeals as you approach the front door to your complex.

"And so basically, your kinda stuck with me for the rest of eternity. Any questions?"

"Waaay too many to count." You drawl as you approach the elevator, pushing the up button as you turn to face them.

How is this gonna affect your weekend?

"Ah shit you're right." You mutter

"Right about what?" He questions as the elevator doors open, following you in to the steel box as you press the button with the number seven printed on it. You shake your head back and forth, ridding yourself of the voice in your head.

"Nothin. Im just, really tired, and half convinced that im dreaming."

"Ya really dont want be ta be a real thing huh."

"No thats not it. Its jus," you scratch at your head, sighing and raking your hand across your face. "Its just really hard ta belive ya know. My whole life has been completely normal, then a bunch of monsters bust out of a whole in a mountain and now this."

You wave vaguely in his direction as the elevator doors open. You step out of the elevator and turn towards the single door lining the wall, the skeleton beside you looking down at the city below you, his eyes drinking in the lights and buildings littering the land.

You stare at him a moment before unlocking the door and pushing it open, forcing your legs to make the last home stretch to your living room.

"Yo coming in or not?" You question from the hall way, the 'keeper' scrambling in after you as kick of your shoes, shrugging of your coat and throwing it onto the couch carelessly. You head to your bathroom and unconsciously Turn on your shower, momentarily forgetting about the skeleton in your living room.

You walk into the main room, the giant skeleton messing around with the movie cases on the shelves beside your tv, clicking them open and closed curiously.

"....so you said you've been on the surface for how long."

He nearly drops the case, fumbling around with it as he looks over at your tired form.

"Uh. A while."

You point toward the case in his hand. "And you've never seen a movie case before?

He looks down at the rectangular case in his hands, placing it back on its shelf as a light red color dusts his face.

"Hehe, haven't been in a humans den since like, the twelfth century i don't know what half this shit is."

"..."

You have a nine hundred year old skeleton ghost in your living room.

"..yeah okay um." You pinch the bridge of your nose. "Im hopping in the shower real quick, dont fuck around with anything." You look him up and down a moment and sigh. "And i guess ill find you something to wear when i get out."

He tilts his head at you slightly, his ears twitching as he questions you. "Clothes? Fer what?"

"Because you're butt ass naked in my house and we don't do that here."

He pouts slightly, plopping himself down on your carpet. "You sound like that damn cat. 'Walkin around naked like a barbarian nehnehneh'."

"I never said any of that."

"Yeah butchu where thinkin it."

"...yeah okay. Be back in like ten minutes, dont move." You stare at him for another second before walking back to your bathroom, peeling off you clothes and stepping into the steaming water.

You scrub dumbly at your skin as you think about the days events, a small part of you waiting to wake up to the sounds of birds on your terrace, roll out of bed and struggle to remember your dream.

But for whatever reason the rest of you.  
The rest of you knows this is real.


	2. The second chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's nothin wrong with being a nudist.

Your eyes blink open slowly, taking in the sight of your less than clean bedroom, illuminated by the rays of sun traveling through your window and into your face. 

You look over at the digital clock on your bedside dresser, palming at your tired eyes as you read ten twenty four a.m in red letters. You stare at it a moment before stretching out, unspecified joints popping as you turn to roll over and go back to sleep.

Only to find an unfamiliar weight pressing down on your legs. You blink again before looking down at your knees, your face blank when you spot a hulking mass splayed out over your lower body, its back raising and falling slowly as it snores quietly.

Hm.  
….  
"WHAT THE FUCK!"

You kick the form off of you violently, startling it out of its restful sleep before you scramble out of the bed, standing across from the stranger pulling himself off of your bedroom carpet, his head shooting back and forth in search of a threat.

"WHAT! Whuss wrong- whut happened?!?"

You stare at him with wide eyes for a moment more, contemplating screaming loud enough for one of the neighbors to hear your cries for help. You open your mouth to shriek when the events of last night all come flooding back to you, the ludicrous memories of a skeleton ghost telling you his soul was made to accompany yours an occurrence you had written off a strange, exhaustion induced hallucination.

"Ah fuck, aaaah shit." You faceplant into your mattress, suppressing a well deserved screech as you feel the bed dip beside you. You look over at the skeleton beside you, his teeth exposed as he yawns and stretches his arms over his head.

"Is that how we wake up every mornin now er?" He questions, rubbing at his sockets as you eye him, taking note of his topless form.

"What the hell happened to the clothes I gave you?" You question, crawling over your bed back to where your dresser sat, reaching for your phone and powering it on while he scrunches his nose and lays on his ribcage, looking over at your phone in wonder.

"Smelled funny, so i took it off, wuss dat?" He points at the illuminated screen of your phone, his arms draping over your lap, prompting you to shift to accommodate his weight.

"Phone." You mumble, spotting your ex boyfriend's grey sweater balled up on your carpet. You hadn't had any clothes of your own that could fit your new 'friend', so you dug around the back of your closet and uncovered that lost treasure. You were pretty sure you'd washed it at some point, no ones worn it since.

"Smells funny huh." You mutter, shrugging and typing the passcode into your cell.

"Whuss it do?" You look down at the skeleton staring wide eyed at your phone, his mouth hanging open at the various notifications buzzing onto the screen.

"I mean, it's used for a lot of things, but its main purpose is communication. You can talk to anyone from anywhere, as long as you have their number." 

"Whaaaat. Humans have come so far…" you nod absently and squint down at the notifs on your screen, all of them messages from the same number.

"Ah shit." You mumble, scrolling through the many messages your friend had sent you.

'Good Morning Friend!'

'I'm Going To Be By Your Home Around Eleven To Come Pick You Up.'

'I Know We Didn't Have Anything Planned Today, And It's Your Day Off But Im 87% Sure You Haven't Had Any Conventional Direct Sunlight In A Month.'

'So The Human And I Prepared An Outing!'

'And We're Bringing My Brother! Surprisingly I Actually Got Him Out Of Bed!'

'No Need To Ask What We're Doing, It's A Surprise!'

'See You Soon!'

"Ah shit not today." 

Oh sweet, oblivious Papyrus, one of the few monsters you'd met through the ambassador, a caring and generous person who you had become fast friends with. You'd never had a mom friend before, and papyrus fit that role perfectly, texting you at random times to make sure you'd eaten, effectively knocking down your door when you failed to answer him. Oh, he was also an eight foot tall talking skeleton, but that's just a side note.

Why does he have to pull this concern shit today? You haven't even figured out what to do with this skeleton, dog, thing laying across your lap, you didn't really have time to fraternize with frisk and papy, but you knew papyrus would drag you out of your apartment by your legs if you dared to deny him.

"Who ya talkin to?" You stand up off the bed, leaving the skeleton to grab your phone and experimentally scroll through it as you head into your closet and rummage through your hangers for something suitable to wear.

"Its pap, he's picking me up in like half an hour." 

"Well where's he takin you?" 

"I don't know he likes to surprise me, I need you to get out so I can change." You toss a turtleneck onto your bed, a pair of jeans finding its way on the skeletons head as you shut your closet door and shoo him out of your bedroom 

"Change what?" you grab your pants off of his skull, dropping it on your bed as he tries to keep you from closing the door.

"Clothes, duh, move!" You swat at his claws, closing and locking the door before he can weave them back through crack between it and the doorway.

"Why do i hafta be out here!" He shouts through the door as you throw off your top, shoving a black t-shirt on over your head and a bright blue turtleneck over that.

"Uh, because I'm getting naked???" You kick your sweatpants off of your legs, sitting on the bed and pulling your jeans up to your waist, zipping and buttoning them as you head to your body mirror, grabbing your brush along the way.

"Hokay? And??? Nothin i haven't seen before!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" You brush through your frizzled hair, you brows furrowed at his statement.

"I've been around awhile, i've seen my fair share of nudist colonies."

You stop brushing for a moment, taking in what he said.

".....Are you a nudist????"

"WHAT- nO clothes were just never a necessity and i figured no one was lookin at me anyway so i might as well let mah bones breath y'know?"

…

You have a nine hundred year old nudist ghost skeleton in your hallway what is your life?

You throw your brush onto the floor, swinging your bedroom door open and barreling past your ghost friend down the hall towards the bathroom, him stumbling behind you as you turn on your bathroom sink, wetting your toothbrush before spurting toothpaste on the bristles, shoving it in your mouth and going ham on your teeth.

You nearly choke when you hear the skeleton yell, looking up at the mirror to see him cursing it out.

"I thought I got ridda you! The fuck you lookin at ya piece a shit! How'd you get in here in tha first place!?!"

"OI OI Calm down, relaxation, chill out stop screaming!"

"Did you let that fucker in!" He turns to you, pointing accusingly at himself in the mirror. You look up at him, deadpanning.

"Yes, I did." 

"Why!" You open your mouth to answer, closing it and pointing at the mirror with squinted eyes.

"Who, who exactly do you think that is?"

"The scumbag who use ta mock me whenever i was walkin through the markets, he would neva say anythin but i could tell he was makin fun of me, Thought i finally scared em off!"

You look up at the skeleton in front of you, then at the mirror then back at him. You fail to stifle a snicker, clutching the bathroom counter as your body begins to tremble with laughter. He looks down at you, his eyes filled with confusion as you wheeze over the sink

"What? What's funny I don't get it!" He looks between you and the mirror, his ears drooping slightly in uncertainty as you catch your breath

"Hun no that's your reflection oh my god!"

"My huh now?"

"That's just you!" You wave your hand in the mirror "and this is me! You've been yelling at yourself for I don't know how long!"

He looks over at your reflection, taking note of your copy for the first time, his face dusting a soft red color as he realizes he's been shouting at his reflection for centuries on end. He covers his face with his hands, shaking his head as you choke out your last laughs.

"This, this never happened aight."

"Nah this definitely happened!" You giggle out, patting him on the shoulder before his ears shoot up, his head shooting up toward your bathroom door, the black tuffs on his head twitching as his brow furrows.

"What?" You ask him, immediately flinching at the sound of your front door nearly exploding. 

"Ah shit, here we go again." You speed walk out of your bathroom, the skeleton following you through the living room, a voice in the back of your mind telling you you have twenty seconds before your door is blown off of its hinges.

"Why are you following me?" You whisper yell at him, his head tilting in confusion as you place your hand on the doorknob.

"I thought we were goin out."

"No, i'm going out, you're gonna sit down and not touch anything!"

"Oh c'mon it's not like they're gonna notice if i tag along right?" You open your mouth to protest, shutting it and turning the knob in your hand, accepting defeat.

"Dammit you're right." You swing open your front door, craning your neck to look up at the ridiculously tall skeleton standing in your doorway, a long, navy coat covering his bones, his red gloves matching the scarlet scarf around his neck.

"Hiya paps." You wave awkwardly at the lanky monster, his contagious smile stretching as he looks down at your small form.

"GOOD MORNING HUMAN! I WAS WORRIED YOU DIDN'T GET ANY OF MY MESSAGES WHEN YOU DIDN'T REPLY! I WAS COMING TO DRAG YOU OUT OF BED!" 

His less than quiet voice doesn't faze you much anymore, his excitable nature fitting well with his usual volume. He chuckles proudly before his eyelights flicker towards the skeleton behind you, looking back at you before focusing back on him.

"AH Y/N WHO IS YOUR VERY HALF NAKED FRIEND!" He chirps, his eyes very pointedly fixed on the keeper standing behind you. Said keeper looks back and forth, his lights meeting papyrus's before he leans down toward you.

"Play dumb." 

"Whos y/n."

"Not that dumb what the fuck!" His eyelights cut between you and papyrus for a moment before he points to himself warily.

"D- uh- can you see me?"

"YES, YOU AND EACH ONE OF YOUR EXTREMELY EXPOSED RIBS." Papyrus smiles tightly, his expression feigning goodwill as he clasps his hands together.

"Whaaaat." You breathe, looking up at the eared skeleton behind you, your hands making a 'what the fuck' gesture as he begins to sweat.

"Idontfukinknow!" He sais through his teeth as you pinch the bridge of your nose, the sound of feet padding to your doorway prompting you to raise your head slowly. Frisk stands next to papyrus, their purple sweater nearly swallowing them whole as they wave to you silently.

"H-eya kid!" You sputter out, an anxious smile on your face as your eyes glance up at papyrus, his smile set wide and his expression dark as he glares at your new 'friend.

"How are you doing kiddo?" They give you a thumbs up, their passive face turning to stare up at the rounded, sweating figure behind you.

You see them see him.

You see him see them see him.

You watch in horror as frisk waves at him, before signing something with their hands.

"W-who?" He asks, looking between the child and papyrus's oddly quiet form.

"HE DOES DOESN'T HE."

"He does what?" 

Papyrus brings his hand to his chin, stroking it contemplatively as he eyes your friend with a new expression.

"ITS UNCANNY, I DON'T KNOW WHY I DIDN'T SEE IT BEFORE."

"See what before??" You look frantically between the three people circled around your doorway, trying to decipher whatever it had been frisk had signed to the others. You'd meant to catch up on your ASL since you'd met frisk, considering speaking to them thus far had been frustrating games of charades. But you we're painfully rusty, and that really wasn't helping you at the moment.

"Who the fuck is 'sans'??" Your friend asks, the name sparking some sort of familiarity in your mind.

"Sans? Why do I know that name?"

"PROBABLY BECAUSE I RANT TO YOU ABOUT HIM REGULARLY."

"Wait, that sans? Sticky note sans? Like bad puns, sleep till two pm sans?"

Papyrus sighs and shakes his head, placing his hands on his hips. "THE ONE AND ONLY."

"You know tha guy?"

"Only through stories." You huff and turn around, stomping off to the center of your main room, crouching down and clutching your hands in front of your face as you take in deep breaths. 

You- you let some ass naked stranger talking about 'soul keepers' into your house after he chased you down, gave him clothes, let his sleep in your bed and had let him convince you he wasn't some crazy person talking nonsense. You knew you had been tired but, but you didn't know you'd been so sleep deprived it had made you so damn gullible.

You slowly turn your head, staring darkly at the sweating mess of a 'keeper' trembling beside frisk, slowly inching behind them trying to hide himself.

"You fucking lied to me." You deadpan, his ears drooping at your cold tone.

"I-i didn't i swear these too are jus, yknow."

"What are they 'special?' Are they 'lonely' ? I cant believe i believed you." He fidgets with his hands, his eyelights pinpricks in his skull, as he pleads with you quietly, his bones rattling as you stand slowly, a pit of anger growing in your stomach as you glare at the cowering skeleton across the room.

"WHAT DID HE TELL YOU?"

"Some bullshit about 'soul monsters' and 'soul keepers, and 'falling down.'"

Papyrus sputters, looking between you and your downcast friend before grabbing at your shoulders, shaking you back and forth aggressively as he berates you. 

"THIS MAN TOLD YOU HE WAS YOUR SOUL MONSTER ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I THOUGHT WE WERE CLOSER THAN THAT! SIX MONTHS AND YOU THINK YOU KNOW A PERSON!"

"W-well he told me no one would be able ta see him, are you telling me this shit is real!" He stops shaking you, crouching down to your eye level and staring into your very soul.

"This Shit Is Very Real." He whispers, strangely quiet as his eyes bore into yours, you find yourself shying away from the intensity of his gaze. "The Amount Of People Seeing Him In The Same Place And Time Is A Strange Occurrence, But Nevertheless, It Could Explain His Strange Resemblance To My Brother.."

You point to the shaking skeleton behind frisk, ignoring the twinge in your chest at the sight of him nearly crying. 

"He, he looks like sans?" 

"Distinctly." Frisk nods aggressively at the statement, agreeing with him as the gears in your head turn.

You silently reprimand yourself, your eyes drifting up to meet the red skeletons wavering eyelights, his orbs cutting up to you before falling into a corner of the room as he wrings his hands. 

"Heya paps? You up here? Why'd ya leave me in the car i thought you guys got abducted or somethin."

A voice travels in through the front doorway, a flippant tone to it as a figure appears in your open doorway. You look over to see an oddly round skeleton, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his blue hoodie, zipped midway over his grey sweater. He wears black sweatpants cascading over his socks, which are tucked into the pink slippers on his feet

His white eyelights flicker between you and papyrus, one of his brows rising in concern as papyrus releases you abruptly, smoothing out his coat as he approaches his brother.

"WELL I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO LUG YOU BACK TO THE CAR IF YOU FELL ASLEEP IN HERE SO I LEFT YOU TO REST IN OUR VEHICLE!" 

He rounds sans, pushing him toward you by his shoulders, his brother making no effort to lift his feet, his heels skidding on the carpet before papyrus sets him in front of you.

"Oh so this is the infamous y/n, papy talks about you alot."

You look up at him, your eyes darting across the room slightly before settling back on the monster in front of you, his smile relaxed and welcoming as you stutter out a response.

"Y-yeah, you too."

Papyrus was right, his resemblance to your skeleton in uncanny, his rounded skull and perma-smile giving him the same appearance, only his flattened teeth giving him a less intimidating look than the keepers.

Papyrus looks between you and his brother restlessly, grabbing frisk under his arm and glaring briefly at the still nervous skeleton standing beside them.

"ALRIGHT, I SAY WE WASTE NO TIME AND GET GOING, BROTHER, HUMAN!" he turns toward the open doorway, sans looking at you a moment more before pivoting on his heel to follow his brother, saying nothing about the stranger standing in the room.

You watch him walk out, waiting for him to disappear into the hall before turning to look at the only other person left in your home, holding your breath as you walk toward him shamefully, your head held low as you stand in front of him.

"...m-m sorry for uh. Yelling at you and calling you a liar and stuff."

He doesn't say anything, prompting you to look up at his downcast expression, instantly regretting it as the anger in your chest grows into guilt.

"Awe jeez don't look like that, you're making me feel worse than i already do. I-i really am sorry i was jus stressed, and angry and i know thats know excuse but i just really don't want you to be mad at me an-" you stop you rambling when you feel him place his face into your head, standing with his nasal bone in your hair as you exhale softly.

"It's alright. Stop apologizing." his soft rumbling calms you, your eyes slipping closed as you stand there with your keeper for a few serene moments.

"Hey, uh you comin?" You both flinch at the sound of sanses voice in the doorway.

"HM, uh yeah I was just looking out the window, i-ill be right down!" You stare at him for a few more awkward seconds, smiling weakly before he raises an E̶y̶e̶b̶r̶o̶w̶ browbone at you, shrugging and walking away as you exhale in relief.

You scratch the back of your neck, looking back up at your keeper before heading towards the door, your hand idling on the doorframe momentarily.

He watches you walk away, scratching at his wrists, his eyes darting between you and the floor awkwardly as he prepares to be left alone in a stranger's house.

You sigh slightly, your eyes floating back up to his, nodding in the direction of the doorway, signaling for him to follow you. His sockets widen, as do the lights inside them as his toothy smile stretches anf he bounds over to you, walking out of the front door as you lock it behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What now

**Author's Note:**

> Just a dumb story i fell in love with  
> You can talk to me over at my tumblr, xiphiathepeacefullsword


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